Why You Should Hurry Up And Ask That One Question

We all have a burning question that we’ve held back from asking. This question has the power to shape our destiny and lead us towards something we’ve always dreamt of. Why is it then that we hold ourselves back from asking it?

What is it about those words coming out of our mouth that we’re so damn afraid of? This is the question that has plagued me for the last few weeks. Like you, I too have a question that I’ve been holding back from asking.

I know deep down that I must ask it yet that doesn’t make it any easier. Taking the plunge into uncertainty takes courage, and as much as we all think we have the strength to do so when it comes to crunch time, we magically get distracted.

Stop delaying. Here are the 7 reasons why you should ask that one question right now:

1. There may be no tomorrow

You have the opportunity to ask that burning question today. You may not have the chance to do so tomorrow. If your question involves another person, then something could happen to them. They may get hit by a car, move country, go missing, find their special partner, etc.

The only chance you have to ask someone that burning question is right now. When you take this perspective, you’ll find that your sense of urgency will increase and you’ll take action more often when it comes to these difficult questions.

None of us are going to be here forever and so we need to get comfortable living in the moment. Even if the answer to your question is not the one you seek, it could change in a week’s time anyway.

2. The fear is not going to go away

There isn’t some magical moment where all of a sudden all of your fear subsides and you have the perfect moment to ask your question. You’re going to be fearful about asking your burning question for as long as you don’t ask it.

I’ve been urging you all for years now to face your fears and enjoy the feeling you get when you do something that seemed scary. Whatever outcome you’re scared will happen from asking your question will probably not happen at the same level you are dreaming about anyway.

So if the fear is not going to go away then why not suffer from it the least amount you can? The way you do this is by getting that burning question out of you. Ask it. Be okay with whatever the answer is. Use the answer to move you forward or even help you move on.

3. You’ll grow if you do

We humans crave growth. We’re part of mother nature’s grand plan, and that plan can only be executed on if we grow like the rest of nature. Asking this one hard question will help you grow even more than you realise. Once you get it out, it will make the next hard question easier to ask.

That’s right; this is only one of many hard questions. When you get this one out of the way, there will be another waiting for you right around the corner. Every time you face these tough questions, you build more mental muscle. This allows you to ask even tougher questions.

When you get to the top of your game, you even get to ask questions for which you’re probably not even entitled to ask yet. Asking tough questions allows you to get things that could seem unreasonable to most.

“If you want things that would seem unreasonable, then you need to play this snakes and ladders game of asking the questions you’re scared to ask”

4. The tough questions will change the path of your life

Looking at the lives of those who inspire us, you’ll notice that the road to their success has many crossroads. At the center of these crossroads is usually a tough question. This tough question typically leads to a difficult decision.

The journey to greatness is full of tough questions and the people who ask them are the ones that change the path of their life for the better. I’ve had many times where I’ve been faced with the same challenge.

When I’ve embraced the difficult task of asking the tough question I’ve always been surprised by the result. I mean I asked for forgiveness, inspiration, a fulfilling career, phenomenal networks of people, and got all of these requests and more. I didn’t always get it the first time I asked, but I got it eventually.

I’ve even asked for certain parts of my life to be destroyed. Why would I do such a thing? Simple, because I want to rebuild Rome in a new way and invite new soldiers to come and fight the enemy lines of negativity with me. At the end of devastation, there can only be hope and prosperity.

I’d never be where I am today if I decided to ignore the tough questions. I have to remind myself of this right now because I’m about to ask a tough question and I can honestly say I have no idea what the outcome will be.

“All I can do is what I always do; have hope and believe that I am enough”

5. You’ve got nothing to lose

Seriously what have you got to lose? If it all blows up in your face and ends in tears, it doesn’t matter. None of us have permanent memories that occupy our thoughts 100% of the time. The answer you may get could be the opposite of what you hope for. If it involves someone else, then they could hate or laugh at you for the rest of your life.

Thankfully there are a few billion more people that you can interact with. Think of it like this: one down and 7.5 billion to go. Fear of loss stops us from asking the question that could help us to unleash our full potential. Don’t be that person.

6. You deserve it

You work hard every day to battle through the struggle that is human existence. I think you deserve to ask your tough question and have the chance to get the response that could unlock your dreams. Don’t feel like this question is out of your reach because it’s not.

You’re spending your days trying to figure out the meaning of life, and this question will help you to progress in this quest. It’s clear that you deserve what you want but what is not clear is whether you are prepared to ask the tough questions and whether or not you will help people at the same time.

By bringing good to the world, you will get your payment in the form of a yes once in a while to one of these tough questions. If you don’t do any good in the world and never ask the tough questions, then you will not be able to reap the benefits.

7. You’re good enough

You may be hesitating to ask this one tough question because you think it’s unreasonable for you to get a yes. I’m here to tell you that you are good enough and you can get the answer you are hoping for. Maybe not the first time, but through persistence you will eventually get what you are searching for.

The world tells you so often that you’re not good enough, sexy enough, smart enough, rich enough but you are. How do I know? Because every one of us is exactly where we should be right now at this point in time. The questions we’ve asked and the decisions we have made have led us to this point.

It’s not a question of whether you are good enough; it’s a question of whether you are courageous enough to ask your question. It’s a question of whether you can face your fear and do what most people are not prepared to do. It’s a question of whether you are happy to settle for second best and put up with mediocrity. Your whole life and your success come down to you.

***Final Thought***

I don’t just dish out this sometimes-confronting advice I also live it. I asked my tough question two weeks ago and got a yes. I never expected that to happen and was certain the answer would be no. I somehow thought that what I was asking for was unreasonable.

As it turned out, I probably would have got the same answer if I had of asked it years ago. That’s the beauty of life. Who knows what could have happened if you’d asked your burning question sooner. Hopefully, now you realise that you need to go out asap and get this question off your chest.

Stop wondering and start taking action. Only then will you get to experience that wonderful feeling that I am having right now as I type these words. That feeling of being just one step closer to the life you have dreamt of while being grateful for where you are right now.

Tim is best known as a long-time contributor on Addicted2Success. Tim's content has been shared hundreds of thousands of times and he has written multiple viral posts all around success, personal development, motivation, and entrepreneurship. During the day Tim works with the most iconic tech companies in the world, as an adviser, to assist them in expanding into Australia. By night, Tim coaches his students on the principles of personal development and the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. You can connect with Tim through his website www.timdenning.net or through his Facebook.

None of us are 100% motivated all the time.
None of us get anything right the first time – unless it’s a fluke.

We all have nightmares of our failures.
We all secretly want to be perfect – even me.

It’s time to embrace the suck.

A lot about life F*cking sucks hard.

My #EmbraceTheSuck story (thanks Sina Fak for the idea) was failing at high school and dropping out. After a break, I went back and finished high school, and the only subjects I excelled at were music and English.

Even though the headmaster told me I’d always be a no good, punk a$$, drop out, I proved him wrong.

I used my expertise in English to become a blogger and that’s why I’m writing these words to you right now.

I failed in the short-term, but by persevering at school, it eventually led me to right now. I could have done nothing and become a bum. I could have listened to my headmaster and agreed with him.

I knew that I was destined to do something big and I believe the movement I’m creating right now is part of my crazy goal to change the world.

All of us can succeed when we embrace the suck and persevere.

“We can listen to our critics or we can lift the middle finger at them and keep going”

Making it through the suck made me smarter, more courageous and it helped me build a newfound resilience.

How do we embrace the suck?

1. Be prepared to fail.
2. Look like an idiot.
3. Be willing to start at the bottom
4. Persevere
5. Challenge the critics

When everything sucks, get back up.
Have a second go even if there’s no reason too.
Back yourself and believe you can push through the suck.

Embrace the suck is a call to action.

It’s about being prepared to eat sh*t because the upside makes it worth it. It’s about doing what so many are not prepared to do because you believe in yourself.

It’s about taking action and executing instead of being a daydreamer and being stuck in a foreplay of ideas, dreams, goals that never happen.

Starting at the bottom and sucking harder is how you get to the top.

Once you arrive at the top, make sure you help other people who are embracing the suck.

Let’s all commit to doing more things that suck and being okay with it. Let’s challenge each other to be courageous.

If I can go from being a high school dropout to making something of myself, then why the heck can’t you?

Embrace the suck because that’s what the people you idolize and anyone you’ve ever looked up to did.

Embracing the suck is part of life.

“Hello, adversity. Come at me!”

One day you’ll look back on all the sucky moments and be proud.

That’s the cherry on top of the cake right there.

That is all the motivation you need to embrace the suck.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

Keep Going – Never Give Up. Good People Are Always Rewarded.

Last week there was some real lows. This week there have been some major highs.

At one point, it looked like my career was down the toilet. Everything I worked for looked like it was done.

The reality is that when you hit a low point, there’s always an upside. The point where you want to give up is just the beginning of something new and amazing. When you hit that low, it’s so easy to want to give up.

You feel like you can’t go on and the odds are stacked against you.

Everything and everyone feel like they are working against your vision for your life. Most of all, you don’t know why you’ve suddenly hit this giant low point that feels like it’s going to last forever.

Your motivation is non-existent; you get out of bed and feel like crap; you’re not sure what today will mean – or the next for that matter.

All of this is fine. No, I’m not giving you some empty promise or meaningless reason to go on. What I’m telling you is that you must keep going. Even though you feel like you can’t, you must!

“All of these low points mean something. All of these low points turn into one giant moment of triumph if you keep stacking them up like shot glasses after a big night”

Good people are rewarded.

As long as you do your absolute best to be a good person, eventually your life will change.

All those small things you did for people will be remembered.
Someone will give you a chance and believe in you.
An opportunity will come from nowhere that you never expected.

Rewards always come for those who have earned it. How do you earn those rewards? By being a kind, humble and good person that serves the greater good. Let’s dumb it down further. You get the rewards by:

1. Helping people who have nothing
2. Smiling at as many people as you can
3. Answering messages on social media and helping people without getting anything in return
4. Staying positive through books and blogs like this
5. Waiting out the winter cold for summer to come into your life again

This list of five things is how you remain a good person through the chaos that we all experience. Many people say “That sounds easy Tim, but it’s harder than you think.”

That’s why I’ve made it practical with these five points.

How my luck changed this week.

I followed this formula I’ve laid out, and this week my luck changed. All of a sudden, I got multiple opportunities to do work that I love and get paid well for it so that I can focus on my blogging.

The messages I got with these opportunities all started with something like this:

“Thank you for sharing your story and having the guts to do so. You’ve inspired me and I appreciate it. I’d love to chat to you about opportunity X. Are you free for a few minutes?”

Then I got two more emails from television networks wanting me to spread some inspiration on their respective shows.

Your luck will change and opportunities will be presented to you if you keep going, never give up and continue being a good person.

It’s a long road towards getting up close and personal with your most important goal but if you stay the path, stay focused and be the person that makes you proud, it will happen.

Keep going.

So, if you’ve ever felt like I felt when my career went down the toilet last week, or you’re feeling that way right now, you must keep going.

I believe you can get what you seek if you remain focused and don’t let the negative emotions in your head take over. I know it’s tough but that’s no excuse. If you want your goals bad enough, then you’ll keep motivated to push through the rejection and failure.

Use selflessness to change your perspective. Look at yourself in the third person. See who you are now and who you can be. All of us can be leaders and when we look at ourselves without our self-talk and ego’s in the way, we can see who we really are.

Dare to dream a little. Don’t be afraid to think big. If you have crazy, audacious goals, then that’s even better.

Don’t be talked out of your mission.
Let your passion rip through the barriers that stand in your way.

Never give up. Keep going.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

We All Have It Tough – It’s What You Do With The Struggle.

Lots of my people who read my stuff email me with their struggles. They’re hoping that I will be blown away by how hard they’ve had it. They think it’s some sort of competition to see who has the most battle scars.

By reading so many of these emails of struggle over the last few years, I realized something: we all have it tough. All of us struggle – even me.

– Right now, I have 14 days left until I’ll be out of a job.
– I’ve got some very challenging personal issues to deal with.
– My investments need a major rework and I’m completely lost.

I’ve been offered an opportunity to do public speaking to a large audience and am scared of whether I should say yes. Do I have what it takes? Will I mess it up?

We all have it tough.

What I’ve learned is it’s what you do with the struggle that will define your future.

Are you going to sit there and take it?

That’s right I’m asking you right now. What are you going to do with the struggles?

There are only two options:

1. Toughen up and use the struggles as motivation
2. Be a piss weak, sook, and give up.

Your struggles can take you to a new level. When George Lucas tried to make Star Wars, it was a total F*ck up. Everything went wrong. There were natural disasters, lack of money and even the actors thought it was the worse film ever to be made.

Did the creator of the Jedi Knight give up?

Not a chance. He kept going and defied the odds. His reward? One of the most watched movies of all time and plenty of cash to go with it.

You may still be thinking option two is your only hope. Maybe you could be piss weak and just give up. Then you could sit on the couch, watch Netflix, drink wine and pretend that your struggles didn’t stop you from achieving your goals.

The good news is giving up works short-term. The bad news?

After the short-term gain of giving up, and getting to Netflix and chill, you’ll be really pissed off at yourself. You’ll have regret and feel even worse than before you began your journey of struggle. Not getting your goals and making next to no progress feels like crap.I spent several years doing this.

“Every night I would get home, watch a Hollywood movie, go to 7-Eleven for some sugar and send useless texts to the toxic people in my life”

These same people were going nowhere and telling me to give up.

Screw that. I did this for a while and felt so empty. Life had no meaning and I was making no impact. The sugar diet made me sick and I ended up becoming bedridden.

The struggle is the beginning.

Looking back, without the struggle, I would have never got off my lazy ass and actually taken action. When I say “It’s what you do with the struggle,” what I mean is this:

Having it tough and struggling – like trying to walk up a hill while there’s a mudslide happening at the exact same time – is a big fat signal that you’re onto something.

The motivation and momentum you need to get started is right there in front of your blue eyes.

“You can’t get started on some mammoth task to change your life unless you get pissed off and do it tough”

If you were doing it easy, there’d be no urgent reason to take action.

When you’re like me and you are about to be unemployed, have lots of tough decisions to make and are unsatisfied with your career progression to date, you have to embrace your circumstances.

Now, this sounds like a lot of big words that you’d read in some 2000-page self-help book that repeats the same ideas over and over.

I’m going to dumb it right down:

The struggle is a sign to get started. When you struggle, things can’t really get much worse. What you’re left with is nothing but upside.

What action do we take then when we’re struggling?

Let’s use my situation as an example. Here are the action steps I’m using and implementing this week:

1. Accept where you are right now
– This will give you a reality check.

2. Meditate to relax your busy brain
– Stress will force you to make dumb decisions.

3. Get really uncomfortable
– I said yes to a new business venture that involves a lot of public speaking.

4. Resist the temptation to be pissed off
– Getting angry is only going to make things worse. Reserve your energy.

5. Write three things a day you’re grateful for
– This will force you to find the positive.

Final step: Chill out amigo.

Your world is not going to end tomorrow. You can always start again. You can always fall down and get straight back up. Don’t be so angry with yourself. We all struggle and you’re doing the best that you can. Focus your energy on building your confidence and supporting your growth mindset.

“My future looks like a nuclear apocalypse right now but I’ve learned through the struggles that I always come out the other side on top”

Being impatient and stressing will only bring on more problems for you. It’s not that bad. Things always turn around. This moment of struggle and how you handle it will define who you become.

All of us have unlimited potential and we’re all struggling every day.

Once you learn to accept the struggle, embrace it and see it as a seed to something better, you’ll be well on your way to becoming someone you’re proud of.

Wish me luck with the struggles coming in the next few weeks. We’re in this together don’t forget.

Peace, love, respect.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

6 Lessons You Can Learn from The King of the Jungle

Do you watch documentaries on lions? If yes, then you must have seen that they dominate their territory and are apex predators. Lions are among the strongest animals in the world, and no one dares to confront or challenge them. They are called ‘kings’ because they have a touch of royalty in everything they do. From eating habits where 20-25 royal members dine at the same to conquering huge lands. A lion always has a bold attitude and lives like a true ruler.

But their life is full of obstacles and problems. There is less space for errors, as one mistake may make them lose their life, reign, or offspring. Also, hunting is not an easy task; their success rate is only 17-19 percent. Compared to human beings their quandaries are bigger because they never get a second opportunity.

But, have you ever seen a depressed lion or one who wants to give up? They always struggle to hunt and rule lands, but they never quit. Sometimes they fail in hunting a zebra, a gazelle, and a wildebeest. But do they give up? No. They try hard and succeed in hunting.

So, what motivates them to not surrender to the harsh life? The answer is survival. The only thing that keeps them moving is survival. Many lions lose their reign, children, and queens to other lions, but they never give up on life.

Here are six life lessons from the king of the jungle:

1. Your goal is the only way to survive

Set a life goal and work hard to achieve it; consider that there are no alternatives. As lions are born to hunt and rule; acknowledge that you are born to accomplish your life goal. Consider your purpose and work as a source of motivation. They will keep you going through good and bad times because fame is temporary, but work pleasure and sense of achievement are permanent.

“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson

2. Fail and evolve

Lions fail eight out of ten times in hunting, but this makes them fine-tune their skills; thus, they can catch bigger prey to feed their family. Likewise, we should also embrace our failures and evolve each time we face them. We must study and analyze our failures and make sure to not repeat them. As Jack Ma has rightly said, “If the guy only checks himself, yeah, something wrong with me here, something wrong with me there. Then, this guy has hope.” Also, we must follow this law of nature: ‘Evolve and survive’ to achieve success in life.

3. Focus is the key

When lions go on a hunt, they make less noise and focus on the prey. They always have an element of surprise and keep everything low to make their raid successful. Now imagine, if a lion makes noise, will they be able to hunt? The answer is no! So, what do we learn? Too much talking makes us lose focus. Don’t tell everyone about your goals and what you are doing, keep it low and completely focus on your aim.

4. Always trust each other

A pride of lions always back each other in good and bad times. Rather in tough phases as an individual they contribute more to the survival of the pride. We should also learn that strength is in the pack. It’s necessary to not break each other’s trust for a short-term gain. Also, we must support each other in overcoming tough problems and situations.

“Attack your goals like your life depends on it”

5. Survival is everything

Lions don’t harm anyone without any reason. But, when someone tries to mar their territory, life, and family, they leave no stone unturned in giving a tough fight. Likewise, we should concentrate on our own betterment. However, if someone is trying to ruin our career or life, then instead of getting disappointed we should fight back and overcome such smotherers.

6. Have fun in life

Lions go through a harsh life filled with everyday challenges. But they don’t let them ruin their daily moments. They always enjoy every minute with their pride members. They play with each other and take care of everyone. You should also make sure to relish each moment of your life. Leave your stress and worries in your workplace, and when you are at home, relish the time with your family.

Lions teach us to dominate problems in life and live like a true winner. As someone has rightly said, “If size really mattered, the elephant would be king of the jungle.” Similarly, every animal’s life is full of struggle, and we can learn a lot from them to become successful and prosperous in our own lives. So next time you watch a documentary on lions, try to learn from them.

5 Simple Things to Do Right Now if You Feel Stuck in Life

As a success-blogger, I normally have a great deal of clarity about what I need to be working on. I’m also really driven by a sense of purpose in helping others get unstuck and make an impact in their lives. There aren’t many times that I find myself at a loss for what to do next.

Nonetheless, I recently hit a dry spell. I felt entirely stuck and a little burnt out. It felt like I was in a pit, emotionally unempowered and unable to move forward. Due to this, I decided to sit down and write out a list of ways that I could get myself moving and build up some momentum again. (more…)

None of us are 100% motivated all the time.
None of us get anything right the first time – unless it’s a fluke.

We all have nightmares of our failures.
We all secretly want to be perfect – even me.

It’s time to embrace the suck.

A lot about life F*cking sucks hard.

My #EmbraceTheSuck story (thanks Sina Fak for the idea) was failing at high school and dropping out. After a break, I went back and finished high school, and the only subjects I excelled at were music and English.

Even though the headmaster told me I’d always be a no good, punk a$$, drop out, I proved him wrong.

I used my expertise in English to become a blogger and that’s why I’m writing these words to you right now.

I failed in the short-term, but by persevering at school, it eventually led me to right now. I could have done nothing and become a bum. I could have listened to my headmaster and agreed with him.

I knew that I was destined to do something big and I believe the movement I’m creating right now is part of my crazy goal to change the world.

All of us can succeed when we embrace the suck and persevere.

“We can listen to our critics or we can lift the middle finger at them and keep going”

Making it through the suck made me smarter, more courageous and it helped me build a newfound resilience.

How do we embrace the suck?

1. Be prepared to fail.
2. Look like an idiot.
3. Be willing to start at the bottom
4. Persevere
5. Challenge the critics

When everything sucks, get back up.
Have a second go even if there’s no reason too.
Back yourself and believe you can push through the suck.

Embrace the suck is a call to action.

It’s about being prepared to eat sh*t because the upside makes it worth it. It’s about doing what so many are not prepared to do because you believe in yourself.

It’s about taking action and executing instead of being a daydreamer and being stuck in a foreplay of ideas, dreams, goals that never happen.

Starting at the bottom and sucking harder is how you get to the top.

Once you arrive at the top, make sure you help other people who are embracing the suck.

Let’s all commit to doing more things that suck and being okay with it. Let’s challenge each other to be courageous.

If I can go from being a high school dropout to making something of myself, then why the heck can’t you?

Embrace the suck because that’s what the people you idolize and anyone you’ve ever looked up to did.

Embracing the suck is part of life.

“Hello, adversity. Come at me!”

One day you’ll look back on all the sucky moments and be proud.

That’s the cherry on top of the cake right there.

That is all the motivation you need to embrace the suck.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

Keep Going – Never Give Up. Good People Are Always Rewarded.

Last week there was some real lows. This week there have been some major highs.

At one point, it looked like my career was down the toilet. Everything I worked for looked like it was done.

The reality is that when you hit a low point, there’s always an upside. The point where you want to give up is just the beginning of something new and amazing. When you hit that low, it’s so easy to want to give up.

You feel like you can’t go on and the odds are stacked against you.

Everything and everyone feel like they are working against your vision for your life. Most of all, you don’t know why you’ve suddenly hit this giant low point that feels like it’s going to last forever.

Your motivation is non-existent; you get out of bed and feel like crap; you’re not sure what today will mean – or the next for that matter.

All of this is fine. No, I’m not giving you some empty promise or meaningless reason to go on. What I’m telling you is that you must keep going. Even though you feel like you can’t, you must!

“All of these low points mean something. All of these low points turn into one giant moment of triumph if you keep stacking them up like shot glasses after a big night”

Good people are rewarded.

As long as you do your absolute best to be a good person, eventually your life will change.

All those small things you did for people will be remembered.
Someone will give you a chance and believe in you.
An opportunity will come from nowhere that you never expected.

Rewards always come for those who have earned it. How do you earn those rewards? By being a kind, humble and good person that serves the greater good. Let’s dumb it down further. You get the rewards by:

1. Helping people who have nothing
2. Smiling at as many people as you can
3. Answering messages on social media and helping people without getting anything in return
4. Staying positive through books and blogs like this
5. Waiting out the winter cold for summer to come into your life again

This list of five things is how you remain a good person through the chaos that we all experience. Many people say “That sounds easy Tim, but it’s harder than you think.”

That’s why I’ve made it practical with these five points.

How my luck changed this week.

I followed this formula I’ve laid out, and this week my luck changed. All of a sudden, I got multiple opportunities to do work that I love and get paid well for it so that I can focus on my blogging.

The messages I got with these opportunities all started with something like this:

“Thank you for sharing your story and having the guts to do so. You’ve inspired me and I appreciate it. I’d love to chat to you about opportunity X. Are you free for a few minutes?”

Then I got two more emails from television networks wanting me to spread some inspiration on their respective shows.

Your luck will change and opportunities will be presented to you if you keep going, never give up and continue being a good person.

It’s a long road towards getting up close and personal with your most important goal but if you stay the path, stay focused and be the person that makes you proud, it will happen.

Keep going.

So, if you’ve ever felt like I felt when my career went down the toilet last week, or you’re feeling that way right now, you must keep going.

I believe you can get what you seek if you remain focused and don’t let the negative emotions in your head take over. I know it’s tough but that’s no excuse. If you want your goals bad enough, then you’ll keep motivated to push through the rejection and failure.

Use selflessness to change your perspective. Look at yourself in the third person. See who you are now and who you can be. All of us can be leaders and when we look at ourselves without our self-talk and ego’s in the way, we can see who we really are.

Dare to dream a little. Don’t be afraid to think big. If you have crazy, audacious goals, then that’s even better.

Don’t be talked out of your mission.
Let your passion rip through the barriers that stand in your way.

Never give up. Keep going.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

We All Have It Tough – It’s What You Do With The Struggle.

Lots of my people who read my stuff email me with their struggles. They’re hoping that I will be blown away by how hard they’ve had it. They think it’s some sort of competition to see who has the most battle scars.

By reading so many of these emails of struggle over the last few years, I realized something: we all have it tough. All of us struggle – even me.

– Right now, I have 14 days left until I’ll be out of a job.
– I’ve got some very challenging personal issues to deal with.
– My investments need a major rework and I’m completely lost.

I’ve been offered an opportunity to do public speaking to a large audience and am scared of whether I should say yes. Do I have what it takes? Will I mess it up?

We all have it tough.

What I’ve learned is it’s what you do with the struggle that will define your future.

Are you going to sit there and take it?

That’s right I’m asking you right now. What are you going to do with the struggles?

There are only two options:

1. Toughen up and use the struggles as motivation
2. Be a piss weak, sook, and give up.

Your struggles can take you to a new level. When George Lucas tried to make Star Wars, it was a total F*ck up. Everything went wrong. There were natural disasters, lack of money and even the actors thought it was the worse film ever to be made.

Did the creator of the Jedi Knight give up?

Not a chance. He kept going and defied the odds. His reward? One of the most watched movies of all time and plenty of cash to go with it.

You may still be thinking option two is your only hope. Maybe you could be piss weak and just give up. Then you could sit on the couch, watch Netflix, drink wine and pretend that your struggles didn’t stop you from achieving your goals.

The good news is giving up works short-term. The bad news?

After the short-term gain of giving up, and getting to Netflix and chill, you’ll be really pissed off at yourself. You’ll have regret and feel even worse than before you began your journey of struggle. Not getting your goals and making next to no progress feels like crap.I spent several years doing this.

“Every night I would get home, watch a Hollywood movie, go to 7-Eleven for some sugar and send useless texts to the toxic people in my life”

These same people were going nowhere and telling me to give up.

Screw that. I did this for a while and felt so empty. Life had no meaning and I was making no impact. The sugar diet made me sick and I ended up becoming bedridden.

The struggle is the beginning.

Looking back, without the struggle, I would have never got off my lazy ass and actually taken action. When I say “It’s what you do with the struggle,” what I mean is this:

Having it tough and struggling – like trying to walk up a hill while there’s a mudslide happening at the exact same time – is a big fat signal that you’re onto something.

The motivation and momentum you need to get started is right there in front of your blue eyes.

“You can’t get started on some mammoth task to change your life unless you get pissed off and do it tough”

If you were doing it easy, there’d be no urgent reason to take action.

When you’re like me and you are about to be unemployed, have lots of tough decisions to make and are unsatisfied with your career progression to date, you have to embrace your circumstances.

Now, this sounds like a lot of big words that you’d read in some 2000-page self-help book that repeats the same ideas over and over.

I’m going to dumb it right down:

The struggle is a sign to get started. When you struggle, things can’t really get much worse. What you’re left with is nothing but upside.

What action do we take then when we’re struggling?

Let’s use my situation as an example. Here are the action steps I’m using and implementing this week:

1. Accept where you are right now
– This will give you a reality check.

2. Meditate to relax your busy brain
– Stress will force you to make dumb decisions.

3. Get really uncomfortable
– I said yes to a new business venture that involves a lot of public speaking.

4. Resist the temptation to be pissed off
– Getting angry is only going to make things worse. Reserve your energy.

5. Write three things a day you’re grateful for
– This will force you to find the positive.

Final step: Chill out amigo.

Your world is not going to end tomorrow. You can always start again. You can always fall down and get straight back up. Don’t be so angry with yourself. We all struggle and you’re doing the best that you can. Focus your energy on building your confidence and supporting your growth mindset.

“My future looks like a nuclear apocalypse right now but I’ve learned through the struggles that I always come out the other side on top”

Being impatient and stressing will only bring on more problems for you. It’s not that bad. Things always turn around. This moment of struggle and how you handle it will define who you become.

All of us have unlimited potential and we’re all struggling every day.

Once you learn to accept the struggle, embrace it and see it as a seed to something better, you’ll be well on your way to becoming someone you’re proud of.

Wish me luck with the struggles coming in the next few weeks. We’re in this together don’t forget.

Peace, love, respect.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

6 Lessons You Can Learn from The King of the Jungle

Do you watch documentaries on lions? If yes, then you must have seen that they dominate their territory and are apex predators. Lions are among the strongest animals in the world, and no one dares to confront or challenge them. They are called ‘kings’ because they have a touch of royalty in everything they do. From eating habits where 20-25 royal members dine at the same to conquering huge lands. A lion always has a bold attitude and lives like a true ruler.

But their life is full of obstacles and problems. There is less space for errors, as one mistake may make them lose their life, reign, or offspring. Also, hunting is not an easy task; their success rate is only 17-19 percent. Compared to human beings their quandaries are bigger because they never get a second opportunity.

But, have you ever seen a depressed lion or one who wants to give up? They always struggle to hunt and rule lands, but they never quit. Sometimes they fail in hunting a zebra, a gazelle, and a wildebeest. But do they give up? No. They try hard and succeed in hunting.

So, what motivates them to not surrender to the harsh life? The answer is survival. The only thing that keeps them moving is survival. Many lions lose their reign, children, and queens to other lions, but they never give up on life.

Here are six life lessons from the king of the jungle:

1. Your goal is the only way to survive

Set a life goal and work hard to achieve it; consider that there are no alternatives. As lions are born to hunt and rule; acknowledge that you are born to accomplish your life goal. Consider your purpose and work as a source of motivation. They will keep you going through good and bad times because fame is temporary, but work pleasure and sense of achievement are permanent.

“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson

2. Fail and evolve

Lions fail eight out of ten times in hunting, but this makes them fine-tune their skills; thus, they can catch bigger prey to feed their family. Likewise, we should also embrace our failures and evolve each time we face them. We must study and analyze our failures and make sure to not repeat them. As Jack Ma has rightly said, “If the guy only checks himself, yeah, something wrong with me here, something wrong with me there. Then, this guy has hope.” Also, we must follow this law of nature: ‘Evolve and survive’ to achieve success in life.

3. Focus is the key

When lions go on a hunt, they make less noise and focus on the prey. They always have an element of surprise and keep everything low to make their raid successful. Now imagine, if a lion makes noise, will they be able to hunt? The answer is no! So, what do we learn? Too much talking makes us lose focus. Don’t tell everyone about your goals and what you are doing, keep it low and completely focus on your aim.

4. Always trust each other

A pride of lions always back each other in good and bad times. Rather in tough phases as an individual they contribute more to the survival of the pride. We should also learn that strength is in the pack. It’s necessary to not break each other’s trust for a short-term gain. Also, we must support each other in overcoming tough problems and situations.

“Attack your goals like your life depends on it”

5. Survival is everything

Lions don’t harm anyone without any reason. But, when someone tries to mar their territory, life, and family, they leave no stone unturned in giving a tough fight. Likewise, we should concentrate on our own betterment. However, if someone is trying to ruin our career or life, then instead of getting disappointed we should fight back and overcome such smotherers.

6. Have fun in life

Lions go through a harsh life filled with everyday challenges. But they don’t let them ruin their daily moments. They always enjoy every minute with their pride members. They play with each other and take care of everyone. You should also make sure to relish each moment of your life. Leave your stress and worries in your workplace, and when you are at home, relish the time with your family.

Lions teach us to dominate problems in life and live like a true winner. As someone has rightly said, “If size really mattered, the elephant would be king of the jungle.” Similarly, every animal’s life is full of struggle, and we can learn a lot from them to become successful and prosperous in our own lives. So next time you watch a documentary on lions, try to learn from them.